17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, September 30, 1912: Our class had a meeting this evening after school. I had the misfortune to be elected secretary. But better, or rather it suits me better to have been that, than president or treasurer would have suited me.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Where did the class members meet? At the school? . . . at the home of one of the students? . . . at a restaurant? I believe that this building was a restaurant a hundred years ago. Maybe they met there.
It’s awesome that Grandma got elected class secretary—though she seemed slightly annoyed.
Maybe I’m trying to read too much between the lines, but was Grandma really hoping that she won’t be elected to any position–or had she hoped to be elected president or treasurer?
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, September 29, 1912: Rained so that I didn’t go to Sunday School. Miss Bryson was here today having come down on the train last night.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
I wonder if it was an all-day storm or just a brief shower. In general, the weather across the US was pretty good on September 29, 1912–though many cities got a little precipitation.
TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION
SEPTEMBER 29, 1912
Source: Minneapolis Morning Tribune, September 30, 1912
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Miss Bryson refers to Blanche Bryson. She was a friend of Grandma and her sister Ruth. The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick railroad tracks crossed the Muffly farm, and there was a whistle stop at a nearby feed mill. I’m not sure where Blanche lived in 1912, but I think that she was a teacher and probably lived outside the immediate area.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, September 26, 1912: Excuse me, but you know there is an old saying: Don’t talk when you’ve nothing to say, so I’ll just change it to: don’t write, when you’ve nothing to write.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, September 25, 1912: Was rather surprised at the mark I made yesterday. Didn’t think I would hardly get that. Twas the kind that dummies get.
What did Grandma consider a bad grade? . . . D? . . . F?
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Whew, I’m surprised that Grandma did poorly on this geometry test. She never worried about the upcoming test during the days preceding the test, and the previous day she’d merely written, “I had a test in geometry.” and then moved on to other topics.
Usually Grandma had a pretty good sense of how she was doing in classes, and if she needed to study—though sometimes she never actually got around to studying.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, September 24, 1912: It is raining now. I guess or was. Had an exam in Geometry. Took up Arithmetic today. Didn’t have to but I chose to do so.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
High school courses apparently were only a month of so long a hundred years ago.
I wonder why Grandma decided to take Arithmetic if it wasn’t required. Maybe she enjoyed doing mental math.
Here are two mental math tricks for adding fractions that I found in a hundred year old textbook:
Example 1: Add two fractions whose numerators are 1.
Solution: Add the denominators, and place the sum over the product of the denominators.
Example 2: Add two fractions whose numerators are alike and greater than 1.
Solution: Add the denominators and multiply the sum by the numerator of either of the fractions, and write the product over the product of the denominators.
Source: Kimball’s Commercial Arithmetic (1911)
If you like math, you might also enjoy these previous posts:
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, September 22, 1912: Went to S.S. this afternoon and attended Catechize.
Recent photo of the site where the McEwensville Baptist Church once stood.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
When I read this diary entry, I got stuck on a simple vocabulary question. I remember going to “catechism” class when I was in middle school. How does “catechize” differ from “catechism”? Is it a different part of speech?
The Free Online Dictionary defines catechize as “to teach the principles of Christian dogma, discipline, and ethics by means of questions and answers.”
While catechism is “a book giving a brief summary of the basic principles of Christianity in question-and-answer form.”
Grandma was 17-years-old when she wrote this entry. I’m surprised that she hadn’t completed catechize and joined the church when she was in her early teens.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, September 21, 1912: Ma made over a skirt for me. Got a pair of rubbers today.
From Bedell Company advertisement in November, 1912 issue of Ladies Home Journal.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
I guess that Grandma’s mother was trying to save about $1.98 by making over the skirt. I can’t remember the last time I remodeled a skirt . . . or dress. (Actually, I don’t think that I’ve ever remodeled one.) Yet, Grandma and her mother did it regularly.
I fixed over a dress for myself this afternoon. It was one of my Aunt Annie’s cast-offs. I had one trying time a getting the waist and skirt together. I have it fixed now and tried it on to see the result. I’m not so much pleased with my sewing. It seems rather short in the back.
Grandma sounded like she wasn’t very satisfied with either of her remodeling efforts, but she didn’t express any similar qualms about the skirt her mother remodeled. Apparently her mother was more proficient at sewing than she was.
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On September 18, Grandma mentioned walking to school through the rain and mud—hopefully her new rubber overshoes made the trek slightly less arduous the next time it rained.
Where did the class members meet? At the school? . . . at the home of one of the students? . . . at a restaurant? I believe that this building was a restaurant a hundred years ago. Maybe they met there.
